Draft-regulating appliance.



0.1. PFEIFFER.

DRAFT REGULATING APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7. 1913.

1,21,529. Patented Jan. 2,1917. 2 SHEETSSHEET l.

I [NVE/VTOR. r. (i fQ/Ffe/E 0.1. PFEIFFER. DRAFT REGULATING APPLIANCE.

APPLlCATlON FILED MAY 7. 1913- Patented Jim. 2,1917.

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Application vfiled.tulliayifi', 1913. Seria1No.,766,'17 7:

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GsGAR J. PFEIFEER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, inthe county of: Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new. and useful Improvements in. Draft-Regulating Appliances, of which the following, is a specification.

This invention relates to time-controlled draft-regulating mechanisms of the type shown and described in my application for Patent No. 696,222, filed May 9,1912, and the primary object of theipresent invention is to provide a simplified apparatus of great efliciency and practicability in use, by means of which one or more draft regulating devices such as the doors or dampers of a furnace or stove, may be operated at a predetermined period, principally for the purpose of renergizinga fire which has been dormant during the night.

By the use of the present invention any one of the doors or dampers of a furnace or stove can be separately or collectively actuated by attachment with one and the same operating element without any change ex cept the adjustment of the connections provided to transmit the movement of the said element to the said doors or dampers.

In the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1, represents a perspective view of'a furnace with my attachment in its operative position to actuate the fire and draft doors and one of the dampers'of the furnace. Figs. 2 and '3, elevations of the operating element of the invention in the two positions it occupies before and afterit has performed its function of actuating the doors or dampers with which it is connected. Fig. 4, a plan view of the parts.- shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 6, views similar to that shown in Fig. 1, but drawn to a reduced scale, showing two different arrangements ofgthe connections between the operating element and the dampers of the smokeflue and draft door of the furnace. Fig; 7, a view similar to Fig. 1, drawn to a still furtherreduced scale showing a-modified" method of operating the fire door of the furnace, and, Fig. 8, an elevation of a modified'form of the operating element of my-invention.

Referring to the drawings. in detail, the operating element of the invention consists inits preferred form as is best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, of an angular supporting Specification of L'ettersIatent.

PatentediJan. 2, 1917.

frame 2* which is'adapted to be" rigidly attached tothe wall of a furnace or any'other suitable. upright; support. The frame 2 is composed? of an upright; member. 3 and a transverse member 4 which is rigidly; Securedat theupperend; thereof; The last mentioned member has, at; one of its ends, two, forwardly projecting parallel horns. 5 for the attachment of an alarm clock 6which to this end has'been. provided with loops 7 capableiof receivingthe horns. The clock is: ofordinary construction except that the end of; thewinding stem of its-alarm mechanism isqprovidedl with a cross-blade 8 which after the said mechanism has been wound, serves asatemporary stop for the operating lever 9 which is fulcrumed at the opposite end of the; member 4, as at 10. A coiled spring} 12, connects. the arm of the lever opposite toithat end which in practice is engaged by the'blade 8,with the lower end of" the member-of,- the supporting frame 2, and the connection between; the latter and the end of the spring is preferably accomplished by means of'ashort chain 13 which permits of varying the tensionof the spring by at-.

tachingthe hook-shaped end thereof toone or another of its links. The points 14: and 15- at which the opposite-ends of the spring area-ttached to the support and to the lever, are positioned with-relation to thefulcrum of the latter so that when the mechanism is set for operation with the end" of the lever underneath the blade of thev clock mechanism, the saidpoints will lie in a plane in close proximity to the fulcrum of the lever,

withthe result that when the} parts are thus adjusted, the: spring will exert the mini- -mum of pressure on the clock mechanism.

It will be observed that when the lever is subsequently released, the pull exerted by the spring will increase as the lever. reaches its: perpendicular position which 1s.- determined by, its. engagement with a stop 16 on the supporting. frame 2.

The; lever 9 is: provided; at its oppositeends with two seriesxof apertures 17 and 18 for the attachmentof connections hereinafter to; be. described, at. different distances from its fulcrum, and it has at the extreme-end of its free arm, another aperture; 19 for thev attachment of the meansprovided: to. operate they fire door of; the f urnace or stove to, which: the appara szis; ppli'ed: In theformshownin Fig; 8, a second; lever 20; is-.;'provided,which, as. in th and a'prop 26 is by 9 to maintain the said door in a partial construction shown in the prior application for patent above mentioned, serves to release the draft door of'a furnace or'stove by engagement with its latch. A link 21 connects opposite arms of the two levers and extends when the device is set for action, in

the fulcrum of i a position with relation to the primary lever 9 similar to that of the spring 12. The lower lever is composed of two adjustably connected. members which make it possible to lengthen or shorten the same in accordance with the proportions of the furnace to which the apparatus is applied, and a spring 22 which serves to move the connected levers about their fulcrums is attached at its ends to a ring on the supporting frame opposite to that'at which it connects with the link. The operating element is preferably attached to the wall of the furnace or stove as ings, but I wish it understood that it may be secured to the wall of the room in which the furnace is located, or to'an independent support without in any way changing its method of operation or lessening its efficiency. V p r In the construction shown in Fig. 1, a spring 23 attached at one end to the wall of the furnace 24:, is provided to close the fire door 25 when its opposite extremity is attached to the knob or handle of the same, means of-a chain27, connected in the aperture 19 of the levpr Y open position against the action of the spring, when inserted between the edge of the door and the frame in which the latter is hung. The prop has in one of its edges, a series of notches to vary the angle at which the door is heldthereby this construction being similar'to that described in the co-pending application. For clearness V of illustration, allthe flexible connections employed in my invention have'been shown in dash-dot lines, it being understoodthat while the said connections are preferably composed of chains, wires or ropes maybe used with equal effect. A chain 28 con nected by means of an open link 29 in one of the apertures of the series '18 formed in the arm of the gaged by the clock mechanism, is run over a pair of sheaves 30 and 31 which are mounted on the ceiling or other overhead'support of the rooIn in "which the furnace is installed, and its opposite end isattached to the handle of the draft door 32' which is hinged at 33." One of the sheaves the chain 28 is attached to. the door, so

that when by action of the spring impelled the said damper at a shown in the drawlever opposite to that en- 31is placed at a point'rearward of the perpen-' I di'cul'ar" passing which the furnace and; forward with respect dicular passing lever 9, a longitudinal movementis imparted to the; chain, it will first of all lift the door to disengage its latch from the seat it normally movement of one of the draft regulating.

devices of the furnace, as for example, the flue damper 36, the chain tir'l by means of an open link 37 attached. in one, or another- -of the apertures comprised in the series 17 the clock mechaof the arm' engaged-by nism, and its opposite end is connected with point opposite to' that occupies and subsequently; move'the door about its hinges to a wide at which it is'hinged. The chain is run over a pair of sheaves 38 which like those of" the chain '28, are attached to a suitable overhead support. To set the mechanism above describedifor the purpose of renewing the fire in a furnace at a predetermined period, the alarm clock is set to operate at the desired time and after its alarm mechanism has been wound, .the end of the lever 9 is placed ;un der the cross,

zontal position will hold the Same'against the action of the spring. After the spring 23 has'be'en attached to the knob of the fire sponding the said door andits frame to position. The end of tached to the damper edges of 36 which in consein Fig. 1, and the end tached to the knob of the latter .hasbeen closed. When attheap-- of thechain 28 is atblade 8 of the winding stem, which when placed in a substantially hori-;

thedraft door after pointed time the alarm mechanism is ;actuv ated, the consequent rotation-of its winding-* stem will cause the ver 9 which by actlon of the'spring 12 is blade 8 to release the leposition shown pull exerted on moved to its perpendicular in Fig. 3. The consequent the chain 28 will, in the manner described, unlatch the draft-door 32; and move it to its wide open position, theslack in the chain 3 1 will cause the damper 36 to close by gravity and the downward move- 26 from between the .door door 25' with theresult that draw the prop frame and the In the form shown in Fig. 5, the mechaquence is held in the open position as shown hereinabove -ment-of the outer arm of the lever will with-1 nism is "arranged to operate only the flue?- damper 36 and the damper 39 of-the draft door. 'The chain 34 is to this end arranged as before, but the chain '28fisattached to the first mentioned chain at a point a0 between the two sheaves 38 over it is at its opposite end, attached to the which it runs and chains have been arranged to operate the Same dampers when that connected with the draft door exceeds in weight, that of the fine. In this case the chain 28 is connected at one end in one of the apertures 18 in the arm of the lever opposite to that engaged by the clock mechanism and at its opposite end to the damper 39, and the chain 3% connected with the damper 36, is attached to the first-mentioned chain at a point d1 between the sheaves 38 and 42 over which the latter runs.

In the form shown in Fig. 7 the draft door is operated in a manner similar to that of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, but the fire door is actuated without the use of a spring or prop by connecting its knob with the same arm of the lever to which the chain 28 is attached by means of a second chain 43, and running the latter over a sheave 4% which is placed forward of the perpendicular passing through the edge of the door opposite its hinge. It is obvious that when the lever 9 is moved in the position shown in Fig. 3, the fire door will be moved to the closed position and the draft door will be simultaneously opened. It will thus be observed that by the use of my attachment the one spring can be employed to operate any oneor all of the dampers or doors of a furnace or stove, independent of each other and that the extent of the opening movement of the same may be regulated to any desired degree within determinate limits. The arrangement of the points at which the spring 12 is attached to the lever and the support of the operating element with relation to the fulcrum of the lever whereby the said points lie in a plane in close proximity to the said fulcrum when the mechanism is set for action, relieves the alarm mechanism of the clock of the greater part of the pull exerted by the spring without lessening the efficiency of the same to move the lever and the parts connected therewith, to their normal positions of rest when by action of the alarm mechanism, the said lever is released, it being understood that if the said points extended in a plane with the fulcrum, the lever would be at the dead point.

I desire it understood that while I have shown and described the operating mechanism, which includes the clock, lever and spring as its essential elements, in connection with the doors and dampers of a furnace or stove, the said mechanism may be employed for other purposes within the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is: p

In combination, a support adapted to be secured to a wall or other upright surface, a lever fulcrumed thereon and having at points remote from its fulcrum, means for the attachment of flexible connections, a trip engaging an end of said lever for holding it in a substantially horizontal position, and a spring connected at one end to the support at a point beneath the fulcrum of the lever, and at its opposite end to the lever at a point disposed above the fulcrum when the lever is in its said horizontal. position, said points of connection of the spring being under the same conditions, at opposite sides of a vertical passing through the fulcrum and in a straight line which closely approaches the same, and the spring being under said conditions expanded to move the lever to a substantially vertical position when released by the trip.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR J. PFEIFFER.

Witnesses:

G. J. ROLLANDET, L. RHOADES.

Conies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

